Skip to main content

Darkest Valleys

           Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)

To begin, this psalm is so famous that even though the translators of the New International Version translated it as “through the darkest valley,” they added a foot note saying, “Or, through the shadow of death.” Poetically speaking, we just can’t get better than that image.

The past week has been a sort of dark valley. My knee started hurting. No, that’s certainly not a valley of the shadow of death, but not knowing what the problem is means that I could be doing more damage. It seemed important for me to find out. I had an appointment with an osteopath this morning, and they redid the x-rays done last Friday and the “there’s good space between the bones” turned into “Um, there’s not enough space between the bones where it hurts.” Today - my first cortisone shot.

When I got home, I looked at the paper I got. They have suggested getting physical therapy, but it’s the diagnosis that tickles me. Specifically, it’s an Internally Deranged Knee (I.D.K.) I’ve already shared that on Facebook. It’s just hilarious. And since I’m playing games with it, it’s not much of an issue.

But, the past several days have been a bit anxious for a second reason. I’ve gotten some bills, and I’m wondering again what I’m supposed to do when it comes time to pay the rent on my trailer again. This is going to be an ongoing back-and-forth, I think.

Then, there was last night. As I was trying to fall asleep, the wind picked up, so I closed the window over my head. For what probably wasn’t even an hour, the wind blew. It didn’t gust, it just blew - one long, sustained rush of wind that set me to listen for the freight train sound of a tornado. Lightning flashed, thunder rumbled, and rain pelted, but it was the wind that cause concern. If not a tornado, would the force topple one of my palm trees into the trailer or my truck? Would the hurricane shutters be damaged? Should I brave the elements and shut them?

It this one that I need to spend more time on. When I got up this morning, both signs were on my signpost. Strong winds tend to send them flying. All four of my candle holders were still in their macrame holders. The lightweight window screens that I have perched on some shelves on my porch were where they’d been. In other words, for all the noise involved in the wind, the wind wasn’t very strong. The same tends to happen with rain. On my roof it sounds like a deluge. When I step outsides, it’s a gentle rain. Another lesson in perspective.

And that brings to mind a comment about perspective I’ve made many times. People seem to like to post things that say that if you aren’t suffering like this poor, pitiful person who is the epitome of pitifulness and poverty, you have no right to complain, because  you’re not really suffering. If it’s not 120 in the shade, you mustn’t complain about being too warm (though they complain if it gets below 65-70.) Recently, someone shared a meme that said that people with strong minds suffer without complaining and people with weak minds complain without suffering.  

In all these cases, we’re basically saying, “why can’t you be like _____?” We try to set their perspective in terms of their comparison to some “superhero” of whatever characteristic. This is toxic. At the same time, we clearly do need to put things in perspective. It’s healthy for us to do so.

How? What my experience last night suggests is that our attempts to put things into perspective should not involve the perspectives of others. It should focus on the things for which we need perspective. Noisy wind doesn’t mean a tornado, downed trees, or damage. If I remember that, I can put the next round of noisy wind into better perspective more quickly. Knowing what the actual problem is put things into perspective better than comparing one person’s reaction to not knowing to someone else’s. Perhaps what we all need to keep in mind is that perspective is about how we see things, not how our sight compares to someone else’s

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more